I belong to a very large neighborhood yahoo listserv and people are always selling used items for cheap or even giving stuff away. I both give and receive this way. I have gotten for free furniture, a stroller, baby items, clothes, etc and I have given away exercise equipment, clothes, shoes, DVDs, etc. I like it better than Craigslist because all of the items are located closeby and I know most of the people on the listserv so no creep factor. I also rarely buy my children new clothes now. I receive hand me downs from several friends and I use Tide detergent which gets out stains easier IMO so I can make clothes last longer. I then turn around and offer my kids hand me downs to other friends. I think key is playing it forward, if someone knows I am more likely to appreciate the clothes and also keep chain of giving going, I feel I am more likely to get the hand me down. there has been a resurgence of upscale thrift stores for kids and adults and I buy most of my clothes and them, I rarely buy anything new, rarely.

I use Pinterest for ideas for my kid's birthday parties and have started doing them at home as opposed to like Gymboree. I limit my kids to one activity a week, so they can do ballet or soccer or tae Kwon do, not all of them.

Make it a habit to look at store circulars and buy some of what is on sale, esp. dry goods. Sure it won't be as good as extreme couponing but you will build up a supply of things at home to the point where you will not have to pay full price for those things again. For example if you are starting to cook and you know you eat pasta and you see pasta on sale for $1/box, buy 4-5 boxes -- they won't go bad and will eventually get used and it will be a saving over going to the store they day you want pasta and paying $2/box. Same concept basically works for all non-perishable household goods -- there is no reason to be paying full price for them the moment you need them, rather than saving $1 here and there, which will add up to a few hundred over the year.

You mentioned Amtrak -- when I was taking it a lot to go up to NYC, I used to "compromise" with myself. The Acela is 45 min faster but if I was just visiting and was not time sensitive, I would take the Northeastern -- at least in 1 direction; it takes 45 min longer but the difference over the Acela can be $60-100, sometimes more. You do that 1-2 times, you have enough "saved" to splurge on another Amtrak ticket. And if you have been sitting in the train for 2.5+ hrs, another 45 is typically not that much of a sacrifice.

If you have kids, consign the clothes. You can get free hangers from Old Navy, a tagging gun for less than $10, some tape for $3 and cardstock for $2 and can sell your kids crap. I just did a sale today and the total crap all sold yet my nice stuff (smocked dresses I priced at $15) didn't. BUT, by selling my kids crap, it's out of the house and I'll get a check in a few weeks for a few hundred bucks.

I also think that before you buy new, check Craigslist. I'm always amazed at what you can find and if you are smart and not meeting someone in a back alley. But, people are often selling brand new in the box wedding gifts for a fraction of the price.

I also think that things like turning the lights off, turning down the thermostat when you aren't home, running the laundry-dishwasher when full and things like that make an easy difference.

At the grocery store, I stock up when on sale and plan meals based on what's on sale. I also buy at Costco for certain items. I will freeze a few meals and learned to use my crock pot- total life saver!